"The American Experience" LBJ: Part 2 - My Fellow Americans (1991)

TV Series:

"The American Experience" (1987)

Original Air Date:

1 October 1991 (Season 4, Episode 2)

Genre:

Documentary | History

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Congress | Vietnam | Senate | Victory | Senator

Cast

Lyndon Johnson	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Lyndon B. Johnson)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Ball	...	Himself
Larry Berman	...	Himself
William Bundy	...	Himself
Stokely Carmichael	...	Himself (archive footage)
S. Douglas Carter	...	Himself
Clark Clifford	...	Himself
John Connally	...	Himself
Robert Dallek	...	Himself
Rebecca Doggert	...	Herself
Ronnie Dugger	...	Himself
Daniel Ellsberg	...	Himself
James Farmer	...	Himself
Michael Fitzmaurice	...	Himself (archive footage)
Barry Goldwater	...	Himself (archive footage)
Doris Kearns Goodwin	...	Herself
Richard Goodwin	...	Himself
Ed Herlihy	...	Himself (archive sound)
Chi Minh Ho	...	Himself (archive footage)
J. Edgar Hoover	...	Himself (archive footage)
Hubert H. Humphrey	...	Himself (archive footage)
Eliot Janeway	...	Himself
Lady Bird Johnson	...	Herself (also archive footage)
Luci Baines Johnson	...	Herself
Nicholas Katzenbach	...	Himself
John F. Kennedy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert F. Kennedy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Martin Luther King	...	Himself (archive footage)
Donald Malafronte	...	Himself
John W. McCormack	...	Himself (archive footage)
David McCullough	...	Himself - Host
Robert McNamara	...	Himself (archive footage)
Harry McPherson	...	Himself
James Jarrell Pickle	...	Himself
George Reedy	...	Himself
Dean Rusk	...	Himself (archive footage)
Richard B. Russell	...	Himself (archive footage)
Morley Safer	...	Himself (archive footage)
Sargent Shriver	...	Himself
James Thomson	...	Himself
Harry S. Truman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jack Valenti	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Roger Wilkins	...	Himself
Andrew Young	...	Himself

Produced by
Hillary Dann	....	associate producer
Margaret Drain	....	executive producer
Chana Gazit	....	senior producer
David Grubin	....	executive producer
Larry LeCain	....	field producer
Bob M. McCausland	....	field producer (as Bob McCausland)
Susan Mottau	....	coordinating producer
Chas Norton	....	field producer
Laura Jean Ozment	....	series associate producer
Patricia P. Perini	....	executive producer
Mark Samels	....	senior producer
Sam Sills	....	associate producer
Miriam Zimmerman	....	coordinating producer

Original Music by
Michael Bacon

Cinematography by
William McCullough

Film Editing by
Geof Bartz
Thomas Haneke

Production Design by
Alison Kennedy		(series designer)
Chris Pullman		(series designer)

Production Management
Maureen Barden	....	unit production manager
Suzanne Dooley	....	unit manager
Dana Fox	....	production manager
Ron Hershey	....	post-production supervisor
Christine Larson	....	unit manager
Deborah Sublett	....	production manager

Sound Department
Frances Curiazza	....	assistant sound editor
Dan Edelstein	....	sound editor
Donald Klocek	....	sound editor
Peter Page	....	sound re-recording mixer
Roger Phenix	....	sound
Amy Seplin	....	assistant sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Don Grissom	....	assistant camera
Ned Hallick	....	gaffer
Peter Hawkins	....	assistant camera (as Peter R. Hawkins)
Scott Ramsey	....	lighting technician
Brett Wiley	....	assistant camera

Animation Department
Rob Issen	....	photo animator
Chris Kogler	....	photo animator

Editorial Department
Frank Capria	....	post-production editor
Nancy Beth Graydon	....	assistant editor
Ron Hershey	....	assistant editor
Doug Martin	....	on-line editor
Sheila Moloney	....	apprentice editor
Marcelle Pecot	....	assistant editor
Amy Seplin	....	assistant editor
Peter Stader	....	apprentice editor
Mark Steele	....	on-line editor
David Vinik	....	editor: video

Music Department
Michael Bacon	....	musical score adaptation
Charles Kuskin	....	music theme

Other crew
Michael Azevedo	....	interactive media
Johanna Baker	....	publicist
Susan Brignoli	....	production assistant
James MacGregor Burns	....	advisor
Martin Carr	....	development
Diana Claigtor	....	photo researcher
Sara Clark	....	photo researcher
Deanna Collingwood	....	contract coordinator
Judy Crichton	....	executive consultant
Robert Dallek	....	advisor
Danielle Dell'Olio	....	interactive media
Robert A. Divine	....	advisor
Jeannine Dominy	....	controller
Nancy Farrell	....	project administrator
Doris Kearns Goodwin	....	advisor
Liliana Gruz	....	location coordinator
Lisa Kleypas	....	location coordinator
Stan Matthews	....	development
Jessica L. Narowlansky	....	rights coordinator
Daphne B. Noyes	....	publicist
Bill Nye	....	production assistant
Lorena Parlee	....	researcher
Herbert S. Parmet	....	advisor
Michal Regunberg	....	development
Deborah Ricketts	....	researcher
Helen R. Russell	....	project administrator
Adam Schenk	....	researcher
Debra Skriba	....	development
Chuck Smith	....	researcher
Vincent J. Straggas	....	on-air promotion
Kate Tapley	....	researcher
Joseph Tovares	....	series editor
Rick Tracy	....	business manager

Thanks
E. Philip Scott	....	thanks

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Rocky Collins		multiple episodes
Henry Hampton		creator

Produced by
Rocky Collins	....	producer (multiple episodes)

Sound Department
Doug Madick	....	foley artist (multiple episodes)

Production Companies

• David Grubin Productions

Company:

David Grubin Productions

Exceptional--and a very good followup.

This biography on Lyndon Johnson runs almost four hours! It's the most complete one out there, that's for sure. Because it was so long, "The American Experience" cut it in half. The first portion consists of Johnson's early life all the way up to his escalating US involvement in Vietnam in 1964--which, interestingly, coincided with his re-election campaign. The second portion has to do with Johnson as an elected president (he'd assumed the presidency in 1963 after the assassination of John Kennedy) in 1964 until his death in 1973.

Not surprisingly, the bulk of part two was the Vietnam War. This seemingly minor war became like an avalanche--building and becoming more involved and bloody as the years passed. And, combined with anger erupting from years of racism, society began to crumble. Protests and violence became commonplace and Johnson seemed ill-prepared to respond. In fact, it would seem that the documentary establishes that Johnson's strong personality, for once, made things worse. He could not bully his way into positive change and he seemed unwilling to listen to dissent.

Overall, I think this second episode is actually better than the first. It's more complete and narrow in focus. In other words, part one crammed over fifty years into the same slot as part two which covered only a decade--allowing for a greater analysis and insights. Fascinating and complete.

By the way--just a bit of warning. The images of death in Vietnam are pretty intense. Think twice before you have kids watch.